Identification Help! for multisport candy issue (unknown?)- Thorpe!
 

I recently acquired a rare Jim Thorpe card that came on the back of candy box along with I assume three (or more) other famous
athletes. I've been collecting for almost 40 years and have never seen one. It reminds me of the R427 Joe Palooka boxes with famous boxers.

It appears to be part of a multi-sport set called Outstanding Events of All-American Sports. I did some research and determined by the side panel ad for a B&R rapid coin changer it probably from the late 1930s/40s? It kind of has a Sport Kings flavor to it. Many kids had newspaper routes and used carry changers when collecting for their route. So, it makes sense that a candy/toy would have this type of promotion for a 10 year old along with a famous athlete card as a bonus!

Since there are many advanced baseball collectors on this board I was hoping that someone had seen the baseball player and can help pin down the manufacturer and the date better. I'm also going to try the football, boxing, and basketball and non-sport boards.

Fabulous pickup!

Is there no address on any of the flaps, or is one missing? It seems odd they would advertise for the coin changer by asking you to send in coupons and money but not tell you where to send those.

Maybe the address is printed inside on the coupon side of the box?

+1 agreed very nice

Really cool pickup, Carl!

Thanks for sharing and I hope others will chime in if they have any information on it.

Yes, that was my thought also.

This, and--a coin changer? Kids are supposed to give up a buck for a coin changer? Useful for young entrepreneurs, I guess, but not exactly what every kid was dying for in those days, as I remember it. And I suppose the coupons were in there with the candy and toy, whatever those consisted of. Wouldn't you think they'd let kids know what the candy and toy were, instead of it being a mystery? Strange issue, but wonderful. Can this be the only one of these anyone here has ever seen? Reminds me a lot of the subject of a recent thread, the All-Star candy boxes. Lot of similarities, I wouldn't be surprised if they were made by the same company.

The top flap is missing. No coupon, no toy. Just the Thorpe card. I was thinking the baseball player would be Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, DiMaggio. Someone pretty darn famous. Also, the basketball card could have something to do with the formation of the National Basketball League (1936?). The boxer Dempsey? Etc

I did the best detective work I could. I will add a couple of images. When I told my friend about the changer he said he had one. Also, look at the eBay and Pinterest items I found. One said Occupied Japan, but they seem to be made in the USA.


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Did you forget to post the images?

Attachment 497543
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My friend delivered papers and had a four barrel coin changer. You see the post of someone selling one from an original owner on Pinterest. I thought the changer was odd, but now you know why I think that was the case. I remember when I was young it was very competitive to get a paper route and expand it.
I also found a newspaper ad from 1947 selling one for a $1.50.
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[mention]Leon [/mention] Did you have one of these in your type set?


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Maybe
 

My first thought is an issue meant for overseas distribution. Occupied Japan would be one example …. but I’ve never seen one before. Rocky

I believe changer was made in the USA. However, a few antique dealers mentioned Occupied Japan in their listings.


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You would think a similar looking baseball card is out there in some collection. I remember Chad Dreier showing me a row of multi sport binders with cards he couldn’t identify. He said multi sport card sets were the toughest to classify.


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Very similar to R437 Joe Palooka boxes.

What are the dimensions of the Joe Palooka box? Also, I got my box in the mail today. It has perforations around three sides, so definitely meant to have the card detached and collected. So, good chance there could be others in the same sport? Finally, looking at the font looks to be a 1930s or 1940s not a modern style font.


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"Made in Occupied Japan" was a stamp on goods exported to the US at the time after WWII. My guess is that after that conflict "Made in Japan" would not have gone over well. If it was for Japanese markets I suspect the writing would be Japanese, not English.

It looks to me like it could have been a Leader Novelty product. In addition to the baseball set from circa 1929, the company issued military cards in the early 1940s and Superman cards around that time. Here is an envelope from a 1937 contest they ran:
https://photos.imageevent.com/imover...ltywrapper.jpg
Curiously, the company was issued a cease and desist order from the FTC that was later upheld in court, which precluded it from operating what the government considered a lottery. I do not know the underlying facts as to what was shut down, but the decision was entered in 1937, so it very well could relate to the contest promoted by the envelope. BTW, a skosh of research also made mention of a similar order pertaining to Rittenhouse Candy--see E285 and the "game" played there.

Anyway, look at this box-front card catalogued as R3 Adventures of the Army and Navy / Adventures of the Army, Navy and the Marines, from the early 40's (examination of ebay examples shows perforations on at least two sides)
https://www.skytamer.com/3.1/R3/N000.jpg
To be fair and accurate, only the Navy cards used the same color scheme as the OP's item; still, the box contained a coupon that could be removed from the perforations, and it also contained a card--both of which identified Leader Novelty Co, apparently on the inside only.
https://www.skytamer.com/3.1/R3/N000b.jpg
https://www.skytamer.com/3.1/R3/N100.jpg
https://www.skytamer.com/3.1/R3/N100b.jpg

Finally here is the Superman issue from 1940:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Ph0AA...mo/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/oiEAA...mZ/s-l1600.jpg

It seems to me there are some similarities to the OP's All-American Candy & Toy box-- no ID of the company on the outside of the box, similar size, a reference to coupons and roughly the same color schemes and drawings. Food for thought anyway.

Identification Help! for multisport candy issue (unknown?)- Thorpe!
 

Good info.
Notice the perforations. It indicates that the cards on the back were meant to be detached and collected. There has to be a baseball player out there. I also emailed the seller. Catskills NY area. It was in a box with papers and letters.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...08bd8164c7.jpg


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The Superman picture didn't come through for me, Todd. I'd like to see it.